Part biography, part cultural history, this book from the author of Unbearable Weight is a reconstruction of Anne Boleyn's life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination. Why is Anne so compelling? Why has she inspired such extreme reactions? Was she the flaxen-haired martyr of Romantic paintings or the raven-haired seductress of 21st-century portrayals? Actually, she was neither, as Susan Bordo explains, and goes on to examine how generations of polemicists, biographers, novelists, and filmmakers imagined and re-imagined Anne as whore, martyr, cautionary tale, feminist icon, and everything in between.

"Bordo's sharp reading of Boleyniana and her clear affection for this proud, unusual woman make this an entertaining, provocative read."—Boston Globe